Auchroisk 15 Years Old 2007 Cask #C23077 (Claxton’s)

Bottled by Claxton's as a 15 year old single cask release, drawn from cask C23077 of 2007 vintage Auchroisk with 260 bottles distributed to the European market at cask strength of 56.2%. Claxton's is a family run independent bottler from East Yorkshire founded by Charlie and Matthew Claxton in 2014, with releases focused on full strength single casks.

Distilled in 2007 at the Mulben distillery built by Justerini & Brooks in 1974, the wash was made from 100% unpeated malted barley with soft Dorie's Well water and fermented for around 53 hours in stainless steel washbacks. Auchroisk runs the spirit through four wash and four spirit stills with constricted lyne arms, encouraging high reflux that returns heavier compounds back to the pot. Shell and tube condensers give further copper contact, stripping sulphur compounds, with the spirit collected at around 70% ABV and filled into a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask.

Fifteen years in Pedro Ximenez European oak conditions drove intense oxidative chemistry into the lighter Speyside base. Ellagitannins and gallic acid from the European oak build dried walnut and grip, while extended fermentation residues drive high concentrations of sotolon, lending dried fig, raisin, and dark molasses. Glycerol carryover from the sweet sherry adds body, integrating with the spirit's underlying light ester signature at 56.2%.